What we eat affects the climate – what can you do about it?
Food accounts for up to 20% of our total carbon footprint. The good news: that makes food one of the most effective levers in the fight against climate change.
In our kitchen we are working towards a reduction of 25 percent in our carbon footprint by 2025. But there’s a lot you can do yourself. You probably already have an idea of the steps that would be climate friendly. But there's good reason to look at what is most effective – and perhaps dispel a myth or two.
Yes, more plants is the big one
Eating less meat is at the forefront of the food and climate change debate. And it is the single action that makes the biggest difference. The average Danish person's carbon footprint from food and drink is 3 tons of CO2 per year. About a third of that comes not just from meat, but from beef alone. Ruminants – cattle and lamb – have a large climate footprint due to their emissions of methane, which is more than 80 times as potent a greenhouse gas as CO2. The contribution to deforestation from cattle farming also weighs heavily in the equation. So, by reducing meat consumption just a little, we can make a big dent in our carbon footprint.
You don't have to replace all meat with beans and lentils to make a difference – the kind of meat we eat plays a big role as well. For instance, if all Danes decided to cut their beef consumption by three quarters and replace it with equal parts pork and poultry, our contribution to global warming would instantly drop by almost 1 ton of CO2 per individual.
Less food waste is win-win
In Denmark, around a third of all food is thrown away. When we waste food, the entire footprint from farm to fork is lost without a single calorie making its way to our stomachs. Reducing food waste is all upside. In our kitchen, we work tirelessly to keep food waste to an absolute minimum. At Stopspildafmad.org you can find creative suggestions to combat food waste in your own household.
Transportation is (mostly) overrated
When food is taken from A to B it leads to greenhouse gas emissions. But as long as the produce we use in our kitchen has been transported by ship or by truck within Europe, this part of the cycle accounts for a relatively small part of the total footprint. It takes far more energy, for example, to produce a Danish tomato in a greenhouse during the winter months than it does to grow the tomatoes under the sun in Spain or Italy and then truck them up north to us.
The big exception to this rule is transportation by air. This causes the carbon footprint to skyrocket – pardon the pun. That's why we avoid produce transported by plane in our kitchen.
Even if distance is not the biggest factor climate wise, it's still important for us to choose local, organic, seasonal produce for a host of reasons: it supports local growers while bringing the seasons onto your plate. All other things being equal, the climate footprint is smaller when transportation is short.
CLIMATE ACTION AT THE DINNER TABLE – WHAT MAKES THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE
1. Eat more vegetables and less meat
2. Choose meats with lower footprint
4. Eat local, seasonal food – taking care to avoid food transported by airplane
Climate and health
Want more guidance?
If you want more guidance to healthy and more climate-friendly meals, consul the official dietary guidelines from the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration
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